Since I expect a load of topics to emerge now the game is launched I decided to put together a list of first things to do when you have a problem:

Ask yourself the question if it is really a bug you want to report. Feature suggestions and other comments of the sort belong in Future forum, not here. Bugs with the newest beta patch belong in the Future Patch forum.

Update your drivers. These will usually be your graphics card drivers. Update them regardless of whether they're the newest version, there might be a corrupted file in there which an update will probably fix. (ATI/AMD, nVidia, SiS, Intel (Use the 'Graphics' tab on the right), else visit computer maker website)

Search the forums. Problems are rarely unique to one person and for that reason it is likely that someone else has encountered this same problem as you are experiencing. Use the Search form to search the Support forums for your bug. If you encounter a topic which describes your problem, don't start a new one. If the problem was solved in that topic, read closely and see if you can solve the problem with the information supplied in that topic. If it is still unsolved, post in the topic to say that you have the problem too and supply the data layed out on the next bullet point for a bug report. Pay attention to the age of the topic and the version of the game it concerns - if a patch has been released since the topic was created, it can be helpful to say that the problem persists in the current version and hasn't been fixed by patches.

If the problem persists, post a topic in the support forums, specifying the following information:

Windows version (including 32/64bit and service packs)CPURAM (details not needed, amount of memory will suffice)Graphics card (including driver version)

Furthermore, your dxdiag. This is a file that contains just about everything there is to know about your system and will help others immensely when trying to find the problem. Obtain and post your dxdiag like so (nicked from frenchfrog):

1)'Start' windows button 2)'Run ...' or the search bar in Vista 3)Type 'dxdiag.exe' in the 'Open' textbox and press the 'Ok' button 4)Once the 'dxdiag.exe' dialog is up, click the 'Save All Information ...' button. 5)Choose a destination for the file (ie: your desktop) and a name for the file (ie: 'dxdiag_info.txt') 6)Post the content of the file either:

In an archive file, linked (preferably this option, because it doesn't clutter the topic as much)

Inbetween [code][/code] tags to make it easily identifiable

If you posted your dxdiag before and you haven't made big changes to your system configuration (either hardware or software), linking to the post where your dxdiag was posted is preferred as opposed to spamming every bug report you make with your dxdiag.

Also supply a detailed description of the problem and information that could be of use regarding the subject. Simply saying "My mouse doesn't work" will not help you a lot. If we continue this example, it'd be a good idea to mention the type of mouse you have, are you running the game in windowed mode, does it only work in the menus or not at all, etc.

A good bug report is specific but not too short.

Finally, make sure your topic title is descriptive and understandable, while bearing in mind the character limit these forums have on topic titles. It will make it easier for other people who are searching for a topic with a similar problem as their own to find the proper topic if the topic titles are clear as to what the bug reported in the topic is.

IMPORTANT: If you're linking to a logfile from the game (debug.txt or autopatch_debug.txt) make sure that your auth key is removed from it! You never know what users will do with it when they see it.Following these steps will give the other people a lot of information and is the best way to report a bug if you want to be helped quickly.

Finally, bear in mind that people here are trying to help. Don't be too quick to judge a comment as offensive - it wouldn't be the first time a bug reporter starts cursing the person trying to help him because of a misinterpreted comment, usually resulting in a less than useful topic with no problems solved in the end. Most people help solve problems in their spare time and will try to help you, and it would be much appreciated if you respect these people.

Good luck with your problems, hopefully they will get fixed quickly. Any suggestions for this list can be posted in this topic.

Jelco

Last edited by jelco on Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:47 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Shwart!! wrote:Hopefully, then, they'd know to put such bug reports there......seriously, how thick would someone have to be?

My point is more that I imagine we'll have more people allowed to test patches than just those who got into the pre-release beta, who might not know about those forums too well if they haven't had access to it all the time. Besides, it's just for the sake of completion.